The Serendipitous Journal Retrieval
by rubyanjel
Summary: Twelve year-old Alexander Isaac Cooper has no choice but to spend their holidays in Galveston. One evening, his curiosity led him to a journal that once belonged to his dad. Rated T for future chapters. S/A, future mentions of L/P, H/B, Raj/OC.
1. Mario Kart Agreement

Title: The Serendipitous Journal Retrieval

Pairing: Sheldon/Amy

Rating: T, just to be sure. It'll be for the future chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own BBT, any of its characters, except Alex and other future OCs.

Author's notes: This story has been nagging me for the past few days. I initially wanted to write a Shamy fic with Prince Faisal interactions but this plot bunny kept on crawling up in my head. I've been spending almost my entire holiday vacation in Fan Forum and I got plenty of ideas from the thread. So, if you're a big Shamy shipper, head down there and join the fun! :D

Oh, and English is not my first language so please forgive any errors that are present.

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><p>Chapter 1: Mario Kart Agreement<p>

"Alexander Isaac Cooper, haven't I told you to get rid of that preposterous-looking hat?" Amy stopped halfway down the hall as she saw her son wearing a hat that might have come from Steve Irwin's _Torn by the Hungry Vulture from the Outback _collection. "I admit, I'm not a fashion aficionado, but that is simply horrible!"

Alex looked up from his Mario Kart game to his mother. "Mom, relax. It's not like this hat's emitting gamma rays bent on destroying half of my brain cells." He turned back to the screen and resumed playing.

"Amy, just let him wear whatever he feels like wearing." Sheldon, who was holding an unopened can of Diet Coke from the fridge, gave his wife a sly smile.

Confused, she turned from the hallway towards her husband. "I thought we had that discussion a few days ago regarding the disposal of that ridiculous hat of his," her voice just a bit louder than a whisper. "You were even persistent on getting it incinerated."

He absentmindedly opened the beverage in his hand. "Oh Amy dear, you may be a neurobiologist but living with someone like Leonard for more than a decade gave me more psychoanalytic advantage."

"Defend."

"I simply told him," he took a swig from the can and looked back up to his wife, "that he could keep the blasted hat if he would behave throughout the duration of our stay in Texas."

Amy took the can from his hand and drank from it. Years ago, this action may have reduced Sheldon into screaming his head off and demanding kilos of penicillin.

"Genius." Smirking, she handed him back the half-empty can.

He looked at her offered hand for a moment before taking back his beverage. Amy then took a seat next to her son, who was sitting at the farther left-side of the couch where Howard used to sit whenever he's visiting 4A.

He walked towards them on the couch, sat on his usual spot and drank the rest of the can's contents. He turned his head towards Amy who's sitting just beside him, both of his eyebrows raised. "You're married to a brilliant man. Why do you seem surprised?"

Alex, still oblivious to his parents' presence beside him, threw his hands up as he finished the track. "Finally! I wanna see the look on Uncle Howard's face once he sees I beat his record!"

Amy looked back at Sheldon, smiled and shook her head. "One more round—you and me, then we'll leave for Galveston. Deal?"

"Deal. Winner calls shotgun."

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><p>End note: Say hello to the Coopers! Alex was named after Alexander Flemming for his <em>serendipitous<em> discovery, and Sir Isaac Newton. I badly want to write more on this chapter but it's less than four hours before 2012 and the noise around me is starting to get louder and louder. I'm suddenly having some sort of writer's block. Happy New Year, guys!

Forgive me if Sheldon and Amy are a bit out-of-character here. As I said, English is not my first language. Don't worry, there will be more chapters in the future.

P.S. So, what do you think? Reviews are highly appreciated. :D


	2. Hanky Panky Delay

Again, I do not own BBT nor the characters in the show. Well, except for Alex…

**Chapter 2: Hankey-Pankey Delay**

Bzzzzzt!

Mary Cooper, who was engrossed with dredging the milk-marinated chicken cutlets in flour, was startled by the sound of the doorbell.

Bzzzzt-bzzzzzzzzt!

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she said as she got to the kitchen sink and rinsed her hands. She picked up a towel on her way to the door.

"Now who could this be…"As she turned the doorknob, familiar faces greeted her. "Oh, Shelly bean!" With no hesitation, she gave her son a hug.

Sheldon, although surprised by the action, hugged back. "Oh, mom. I missed you too."

Alex rolled his eyes at the sight but his lips twitched slightly, trying hard not to let his lips curl upward.

Amy smiled as she looked at her husband and his mother. "Good evening, Mom. It's definitely nice to see you again."

Mary let go of her son and also gave Amy a hug. "Aww. Good to see you too, Amy." As she let go of her daughter-in-law, she turned to her grandson. "Now Alex, you know I only got to see you a few times a year, so you better give your grandma a hug or you won't get a present this year." She raised an eyebrow as she held her arms in from of her, awaiting a hug from Alex.

He looked at his parents, who were trying hard not to laugh and then looked away from him. "Fine," he breathed. Mary leaned closer and gave her grandson a warm embrace.

Surprisingly, he placed his arms around her and squeezed her tighter than she would have expected. "I missed you too, Grandma," he admitted.

They both let go from the embrace and there was a short awkward silence. "So, you guys seem to be a bit late."

"Right… that," he trailed. "You see mother," he kept his face serious as he looked at Amy, who was biting her lips and trying to avoid eye contact.

"Mom and Dad played Mario Kart for at least an hour before we left." Alex gave an annoyed expression. "Well, they played for, like a round or two, before they stood up and went back to their room." He crossed his arms as he leaned on the closed door.

Mary gave her son and his wife a suspicious look. "Oh, you two. Ever since your wedding day you just can't keep it in, now can't yah?"

"No, really! We were—"he turned his wife again who was now looking down on the floor and was hiding her grin, "playing, and then we lost track of the time—"

"Oh hush," Mary waved her arm, dismissing his last statement. "What's important is that God brought you three here safe and sound. Now, y'all must be worn out from that trip. I got plenty of ice-cold Yoohoo in the fridge." She headed inside as the three followed her in.

"Alex, where in the world did you get that darn hat?" Mary gave a perplexed expression as she handed him a bottle of Yoohoo. Sheldon and Amy were upstairs, busily unpacking their bags. They decided to spend their holidays in Galveston this year after being pestered by Mary since Thanksgiving.

He held the hat at the brim and tipped it, more like a salute. "Ain't it cute on me, Grandma?" He asked while imitating a Texan accent.

"No, you look worse than your Uncle Georgey when he got home from that Gala at the Bensons' ranch. And I tell you, that gala wasn't a pretty sight when it ended."

"Aww, come on Grandma. It can't be worse than that."

"Oh, don't believe me? Just ask your father."

"Nevermind," Alex trailed as he took off the hat for the first time since they arrived in Galveston.

"You know what? You can go upstairs to your Uncle Georgey's old room and you can check out some of his stuff and see if you might like 'em". Alex's expression softened. _That seemed to cheer the little bugger up._

"Really? Can I go check them out right now?" Alex stood up and motioned towards the stairs.

"Sure, Go ahead. The food won't be ready for the next hour anyway."

"Thanks, Grandma." Alex smiled at her before proceeding upstairs.

End note: Things will get even prettier in the next chapter. I don't wanna spoil what's going to happen ahead but I'll be updating again soon. I haven't checked for errors that much in this chapter since I'm typing this up in my spare time between my class and PE. And yes, Sheldon and Amy pretty much changed ever since Alex was born. That round of Mario Kart game really turn couples on, if you know what I mean. You'll read all about the mysteries that surround these two soon in the later chapters.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are highly appreciated! 3


	3. To knock is to know

Once again, I do not own this fabulous fandom. I don't even earn a single peso from this... not that I care.

**Chapter 3: To knock is to know**

As Alex climbed upstairs, a beam of light came through the nearest door. There were voices — familiar voices—coming from the inside. Curiosity taking over, he slowed down and tried to be as discreet as possible. At the last step, he inched his way towards the source of the commotion. He slowly reached for the doorknob and slightly pushed it open, giving him a peek inside.

On the bed were his parents, obviously tired from their trip. His mother's head was resting on his dad's shoulder, both of their backs leaning against the bed frame. Even from afar, he noticed how his father gently stroked her hair as they are snuggling. Take note that this is not the first time he _accidentally_ walked in on them like this, not that they're doing something *ehem* inappropriate. To be honest, he thinks it's sweet in a sorta kind of way. But of course, he will never admit that to anyone... _unless_ that person offers him a bucket of his Grandma's fried chicken.

"Amy?"

"Yes, Sheldon?"

Beat.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She looked up and smiled at him. He lowered his head to kiss her. _Oh ghads, not again._

"Oh, for the love of…" Alex immediately pulled the door closed. He's had enough action for today.

Two heads turned towards the door.

"Is he gone?"

"I think so. Based from that loud banging, we might have scarred him for the rest of his puberty."

"That ought to teach him to knock."

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><p>Alex was grunting his head off as went to the next room. <em>Why does it always have to be me?<em>

Come to think of it, he did inflict it on himself. His father always told him to knock first before he entered any room. He always laughed at the way his father would knock. He can still recall the moments when his Aunt Penny would interject in between his father's knocking pattern. Speaking of his Aunt Penny, he wondered if the Hofstadters did go to Nebraska. _Hmmm, must ask dad at dinner. _

The room is practically filled with boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. Most of them are dusty and closed. Some even have holes on the side, obviously attacked by lingering pests. _Dad's definitely going to have a heart attack when he sees this._

_Hello, Dolly!_ He spotted some sort of a hat, covered by a thick layer of dust.

He tiptoed as he reached for the ten gallon hat at the top of the box layers by the window. Covering his face, he dragged the hat towards him as particles started falling on him. The hat felt unusually heavy, since all that was covering it were years of dust and whatnots. Suddenly, something fell on his head and hit him right at the face.

_Ow! What the hell was that?_ Clutching the hat with his right hand, he dusted himself off with the other and looked for fallen object.

He spotted a dusty notebook lying a few inches from his feet.

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><p><strong>End note:<strong> Procrastination and self-inflicted stress does not mix well, especially when your head is spinning with ideas for the next few chapters. Sorry if they don't add up much yet. Don't worry, I'm fairly sure the next chapter will be up really soon and this whole thing will finally be related to the summary.

Your reviews fuel my imagination and my willingness to continue. Thanks for the kind words and support.

So, what do you think? :D


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